Greta Gerwig

Early life

A native of Sacramento, California, Greta Gerwig is the daughter of Christine (née Sauer), a nurse, and Gordon Gerwig, a financial consultant and computer programmer. She has a younger brother. She has German, Irish, and English ancestry. Gerwig was raised as a Unitarian Universalist, and also attended an all-girls Catholic school, St. Francis High School, in Sacramento. She has described herself as "an intense child". With an early interest in dance, she intended to do a degree in musical theatre in New York. She graduated from Barnard College, where she studied English and philosophy instead. Outside of class, she performed in the Columbia Varsity Show alongside Kate McKinnon.

Career

Gerwig originally intended to become a playwright, but was cast in a minor role in Joe Swanberg's LOL in 2006, while still studying at Barnard. She began a partnership with the director and an association with other mumblecore filmmakers. Mainstream success remained elusive. "I was really depressed. I was 25 [in 2008] and thinking, 'This is supposed to be the best time and I'm miserable' but it felt like acting was happening for me, and I went back to acting classes," she said. She made her first talk show appearance in 2010 on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Gerwig voices one of the main characters in the Adult Swim cartoon China, IL. In 2011, she was cast as one of the leads in the HBO pilot The Corrections, but the show was not picked up to series.

Gerwig worked with her boyfriend Noah Baumbach on his film Greenberg in 2010. Commenting on her work in Greenberg and other films, New York Times critic A. O. Scott described the actress as an "ambassador of a cinematic style that often seems opposed to the very idea of style."

In 2011, Gerwig received an award for Acting from the Athena Film Festival for her artistry as one of Hollywood's definitive screen actresses of her generation. Gerwig and Baumbach co-wrote Frances Ha, which was theatrically released in May 2013, after being screened on the festival circuit since September 2012. Gerwig's performance was met with widespread critical acclaim, and she received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical for her performance, though she lost to Amy Adams for American Hustle.

In 2014 she was selected as a member of the jury for the 64th Berlin International Film Festival. In February 2014, it was announced that she would lead the spin-off of How I Met Your Mother titled How I Met Your Dad. She would also serve as producer. However, the show was not picked up by the network after the initial pilot was made. In May 2014, Gerwig made her stage debut, appearing as Becky in Penelope Skinner's The Village Bike at the Lucille Lortel Theater in New York. The show ran through June. For her performance, she was nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Actress. Her third on-screen collaboration with Noah Baumbach, Mistress America was released in August 2015 to generally positive reviews. It currently holds a 75 at Metacritic and a 82% at Rotten Tomatoes.

Greta Gerwig's next starred role in Rebecca Miller's Maggie's Plan was first showcased in the official selection of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, opening to very positive reviews. The film was also screened at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. In 2016, Gerwig guest starred in an episode of The Mindy Project. That same year, Gerwig starred in 20th Century Women, directed by Mike Mills, and Jackie, directed by Pablo Larraín.

In 2017, Gerwig would make her solo directorial debut (she previously co-directed Nights and Weekends with Joe Swanberg) with Lady Bird, which she also wrote. The film stars Saoirse Ronan, Tracy Letts, Laurie Metcalf and Timothée Chalamet.

Personal life

Gerwig has been dating writer-director Noah Baumbach since late 2011.